That Was One Lovely Evening

Our church hosted a decidedly UN-churchy event:

First of all, it was not held in a church. We set the goal of an artful event, kept simple and accessible to all, regardless of background or present circumstances, yet with a very high bar of talent and (dare I say) professionalism.

Mission accomplished. And I hardly had to do a thing. I had to be at exactly 2 meetings, and one phone call.

It was an evening with the spoken arts, with presenters from Harvest Church. But y’all, this was not your mama’s ladies’ event. It was raw, real, funny, and there was mostly not a dry eye in the place, whether by laughter or by vulnerable poetry and storytelling.

I had the privilege of being asked to emcee the whole night, and if you wonder how that made me feel, well…here you go:

Each and every presenter absolutely killed it. The entire evening was very simple, and because it was simple, it felt professional, while at the same time, the presence of God stirred the whole room. Many of the attendees were not from our church.

We had a sell-out event, with well over 50 seats taken. For our particular venue, that was the capacity. There were only about two empty chairs (come to find out, someone got sick, day off).

There was a harpist, and the room was lined on both sides with visual art - the paintings and photography of 3 of our very own artists. (Harvest Church is weirdly full of full-time artists, art teachers, musicians and creatives).

Until next year, Knoxville. “The Scruffy Church For The Scruffy City” (that’s a whole hashtag, btw) will be back in 2024, I dare say, with the second annual “Seen - Known - Remembered”, an evening with the spoken word arts.

A Little Bit About Me

I’ve built a spacious simple life. One that reaches for greatness by being small and rooted in place. In a culture obsessed with upleveling, change, chasing new experiences and having hashtag allthethings, I stand smiling and a little bit alone - alone, not aloof.

I definitely stand a little apart from all the cool influencers.

I do not fit in with Alpha Girl Gangs. Never have. It isn’t that I am unwilling to put myself out there. I am more than willing to do that - but not for the usual reasons.

I’m about staying put and paying attention.

I call this defiant way of life “loving what is mine”. Interestingly, the more I preach a rooted, making, artisan, Trinitarian, new covenant gospel, the more I’m asked to travel. And so I pack my bags with a few uncomplicated tools to fulfill a pure uncomplicated call to inspire women “in the middle”. I show up and I demonstrate what it looks like to be creative as a soul-tending practice.

I inspire women to make physical things in the physical world, and to do that either alone with a great glass of wine, or better yet, in the company of friends.

(all photos and videos in this post are by Elisa Trentham of Sherwood Media )